DATA APPENDIX Construction of the Linked Dataset: The primary data for this analysis are restricted-use data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and made available to researchers via the National Archive of Criminal Justice

Construction of the Linked Dataset: The primary data for this analysis are restricted-use data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and made available to researchers via the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data. 1 Using the restricted-use dyadic linking files provided by BJS, we link case records across agencies as they go through the criminal justice process, enabling us to follow defendants from arrest through to sentencing. To that end, we link cases files across the following agencies: the U.S. Marshals’ Service (USMS), the Executive Office for the U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA), the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC) and the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC). USMS data cover all persons arrested by federal law enforcement agencies, persons arrested by local officials and then transferred to federal custody, and persons who avoid arrest by self-surrendering. 2 The EOUSA data come from the internal case database used by federal prosecutors. It contains a variety of charging and investigationrelated information for every case in which any prosecutor at a U.S. Attorney’s office opens a file. 3 The AOUSC data are from the Federal Courts and contain data on all criminal cases heard by federal district judges, and any non-petty charge handled by a federal magistrate judge. The USSC collects data on any case that results in conviction and sentencing for a non-petty offense. The term “petty offense,” as used here, refers to anything other than a Class A misdemeanor or felony. 4 By definition, such offenses carry statutory maximum penalties of six months or less; in practice the great majority (75 percent in our sample) result in nonincarceration sentences. Although the USSC does not collect data on these cases, their